Koi Moving Day

I finally got my house rented, but the family I chose has a two year old kid. Not wanting to risk drowning a kid, that created an urgency to finish the pond at my new house, so I could move the koi and drain the old pond.

The last pond, I dug myself. It took two months. Not having two months or the desire to do anything like that ever again, I hired someone to dig it for me. It took two guys one day. It is about 10 by 12 feet and 4 feet deep. There is a shelf all the way around so that if dogs fall in, they can climb out.

I bought 3,300 pounds of ledger stones and went to work. I moved each rock several times until I was satisfied with the placement and then cemented it in. It was a long miserable weekend and then I ran out of rock. I filled up the pond anyway. Enough of the sides are done that the fish have room to swim around. I just need to finish edging the top row or two.

I treated the water and then waited a few days for the water to warm up. Then, the much dreaded fish moving day arrived. I got large plastic containers and lined them with kitchen trash bags. I put them in the car and drove to my old house. With a bucket, I filled the bags with pond water. Next, I climbed into the pond and started fishing.

Koi are hard to catch. They are surprisingly intelligent, fast and slippery. The pond was completely green with zero visibility. The only tool I had was a lace tablecloth. Fortunately, it was a hot day because I spent 2 hours in the pond trying to catch the fish by feel. I caught Sunny first, then Sosamma. It was Judy who challenged me the most. Worried about the the two fish waiting in the hot car, I finally had to leave and take them home. For the most part, they were good in the car, there was a just an occasional splash from Sunny. I didn't have time to acclimate them to the new pond. I just slid them in and they were fine.

It is an hour round trip between the two houses and I knew fishing was going to take some time, so I had to get going before rush hour started. This time, I brought a pump with me and started draining the old pond. With fewer hiding places as the water level dropped, I caught Judy.

Judy is a fighter. She thrashed for most of the ride home. Two minutes from home, she became quiet. When we got home, I was horrified to see that her bag was filled with bloody water. She was completely still. I poked her with my finger and she was unresponsive. Heartbroken that I had killed her, I decided to put her into the pond anyway. She lay on her side for a few seconds and then suddenly woke up. She swam away and joined her friends.

It has been several days and the fish are all fine. Now, I just need to buy more rock and finish what I started.